Sources tell Stop the Cap! FairPoint Communications will likely declare bankruptcy as early as this weekend, having failed to survive the crushing debt load it took on over its purchase of Verizon service in three New England states – New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

The catastrophic failure of FairPoint to provide customers with quality service while saddled with enormous debt was never a surprise to those that warned about the perils of approving the transaction at the outset.

The employees of FairPoint are now working on a recovery plan to maintain service and bring back stability to FairPoint customers.  Unlike the senior corporate management of FairPoint, who live in North Carolina far away from the New England nightmares, local employees are committed to bringing their families, friends, and neighbors the service they feel should have been provided by the outset.

What will prevent such a recovery plan from working?  The lenders who hold the paper on FairPoint’s colossal debt and some in FairPoint management who want employee concessions for bad management mistakes.  Wall Street could also move in and demand massive cuts in employees and the infrastructure they need to bring quality service back to northern New England as part of a bankruptcy reorganization.

Once victimized by Verizon, then by FairPoint, and next by Wall Street bankers, the residents of northern New England just can’t win.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, who were exactly right when they predicted the outcome of the Verizon-FairPoint deal, now could face paying the biggest price for bad management — a loss of their jobs or a cutback in their wages.

Pete McLaughlin Chairman of IBEW SCT-9.  “Demanding cuts in labor costs from employees who aren’t in any way to blame for the company’s woes is the wrong way to go.  The overwhelming burden of billions of dollars in crushing debt cannot be solved by ‘nickel and dime-ing’ our union contracts.  And such attacks will be counter-productive to any attempt to improve operations and the quality of service for our customers.”

Some FairPoint customers want to know, “will those who profited handsomely from the original transaction pay a price?”